Amino Acid Types
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ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS
Must be obtained from diet
- "My Tall Vegan Friend Is Watering Kale Leaves" – M, T, V, F, I, W, K, L
- Glucogenic: Methionine, threonine, valine
- Glucogenic & ketogenic: Phenylalanine, isoleucine, tryptophan
- Ketogenic: lysine & leucine
Branched chain amino acids (BCAA)
- Valine, leucine, isoleucine
- Immediately shunt from liver to circulation
- Liver lacks an aminotransferase that muscle, adipose, kidney & brain do have.
Aminotransferases: family of enzymes involved in amino acid breakdown
NONESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS
Synthesized endogenously (The rest of the amino acids)
Glucogenic: alanine, asparagine, aspartate, cysteine, glutamate, glutamine, glycine, histidine, proline & serine
- Glucogenic and ketogenic: tyrosine
- Histidine is often considered essential because it is essential during the first 5 years of life but later becomes nonessential.
Note that there are many ways to categorize essential/nonessential amino acids